Rich Miller and Larry Handlin point out that retired Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones has some serious problems of his own that might make him a poor choice to replace Obama in the U.S. Senate. Miller makes the case:
So, his wife's redesignation to get a pay raise, his stepson's millions of dollars in state contracts, his son's last-minute appointment to the ballot, “food stamps,” “pay raise,” recall, multitudinous failures on his supposedly pet issue of school funding reform, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc. are all nothing to be concerned with?
The man is probably the single most reviled politician in Illinois next to Todd Stroger.
The point of my original post was less a defense of Jones than an argument that the safest Senate choice for Gov. Blagojevich seems to be a black candidate who won't run again -- simultaneously avoiding angering black voters, whom Blago will need in a primary if he wants to be reelected, and earning some good will form those who've argued that a place-holder is the most honest, democratic option. If not Jones, surely there must be someone else who can fit that bill?
But, that's just what I'd do. As I said last time and Miller and Handlin have been saying for months, anyone who thinks they know who Blagojevich is going to choose is delusional.
--Sam Boyd
